Choices For Associate Judge Narrowed To 6 For 3 Spots

The list of attorneys still in contention to fill three associate judgeships in Du Page County was pared down to six Monday by a vote of the county`s 10 full circuit judges.

The finalists are Robert Byrne, of Glen Ellyn; Thomas Callum, of Downers Grove; Roy Lawrence, of Hinsdale; Anthony Mannina, of Woodridge; Perry Thompson, of Elmhurst; and Eugene Wojcik, of Downers Grove.

The circuit court judges are expected to make their final choices within three or four weeks, according to Chief Judge Carl F.J. Henninger. The secret balloting will conclude one of the most intensive screening and selection efforts ever undertaken by county judges to fill vacanies in their ranks. There are one vacant and two new associate judgeship positions unfilled in Du Page. The election is supervised by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Byrne and Callum were rated ``highly recommended`` by the Du Page County Bar Association. Lawrence, Mannina, Thompson and Wojcik were listed as

``recommended`` by the association.

Callum, Lawrence, Wojcik and Thompson all were ``recommended`` by 65 percent or more of the 639 attorneys in the county who responded to a special poll conducted by the circuit judges. Byrne was recommended by 63 percent of the attorneys who responded to the poll and Mannina was recommended by 56 percent of the attorneys.